There is no place for humiliation, discrimination or any kind of harassment in medical education
A perfect storm occurs when a situation is exacerbated by a rare combination of events. In recent media reports, there has been a perfect storm of accusations of every kind of abuse levelled against the medical profession by some of its own. Abuse is not new. Few who have experienced medical training can honestly say we have never seen nor been victims of any form of bullying or humiliation throughout that process. But the rare exacerbation early this year was the separate deaths of four junior trainees, apparently by suicide, followed soon after by Dr Gabrielle McMullin's comments about the sexual harassment of female surgical trainees.1
The full article is accessible to AMA members and paid subscribers. Login to read more or purchase a subscription now.
Please note: institutional and Research4Life access to the MJA is now provided through Wiley Online Library.
- 1. Lillebuen S. Senior female surgeon urges trainees to stay silent on sex abuse in hospitals, Sydney Morning Herald 2015; 7 Mar. http://www.smh.com.au/national/senior-female-surgeon-urges-trainees-to-stay-silent-on-sex-abuse-in-hospitals-20150307-13xusq.html (accessed 20 Apr 2015).
- 2. Ivory K. A call for medicine to stop devouring its young. Croakey: the Crikey health blog 2015; 6 Feb. http://blogs.crikey.com.au/croakey/2015/02/06/a-call-for-medicine-to-stop-devouring-its-young (accessed 20 Apr 2015).
- 3. Rocket Rocket. Comment on “A call for medicine to stop devouring its young”. Croakey: the Crikey health blog 2015; 17 Feb. http://blogs.crikey.com.au/croakey/2015/02/06/a-call-for-medicine-to-stop-devouring-its-young (accessed 20 Apr 2015).
- 4. Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. RACS establishes expert advisory group to combat bullying and harassment [media release]. 12 Mar 2015. http://www.surgeons.org/media/21453090/med_2015-03-12_bullying_and_harrassment_advisory_group.pdf (accessed 20 Apr 2015).
- 5. Australian Medical Association. AMA declares zero tolerance for sexual harassment, bullying [media release]. 26 Mar 2015. https://ama.com.au/ausmed/ama-declares-zero-tolerance-sexual-harassment-bullying (accessed 20 Apr 2015).
- 6. Medew J, Butt C. Royal Australasian College of Surgeons vows to stamp out discrimination, sexual harassment, bullying. Sydney Morning Herald 2015; 12 Mar. http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/royal-australasian-college-of-surgeons-vows-to-stamp-out-discrimination-sexual-harassment-bullying-20150312-141wei.html (accessed 17 Apr 2015).
- 7. beyondblue. National Mental Health Survey of Doctors and Medical Students, October 2013. http://www.beyondblue.org.au/docs/default-source/research-project-files/bl1132-report---nmhdmss-full-report_web.pdf?sfvrsn=4 (accessed 20 Apr 2015).
- 8. Morrison D. Chief of Army message regarding unacceptable behaviour. 12 Jun 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaqpoeVgr8U (accessed 20 Apr 2015).
- 9. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Medical Workforce 2012. Canberra: AIHW, 2014. (National Health Workforce Series No. 8; AIHW Cat. No. HWL 54.) http://www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=60129546076 (accessed May 2015).
- 10. Wilkinson D, Casey MG, Eley DS. Removing the interview for medical school selection is associated with gender bias among enrolled students. Med J Aust 2014; 200: 96-99. <MJA full text>
- 11. Colyer S. Co-worker aggression concerns. MJAInsight 2014; 3 Nov. https://www.mja.com.au/insight/2014/41/co-worker-aggression-concerns (accessed 21 Apr 2015).
- 12. Yar M. Hannah Arendt (1906–1975). 6. Eichmann and the banality of evil. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy http://www.iep.utm.edu/arendt/#H6 (accessed 20 Apr 2015).
- 13. McPhee I. Microscope must be focused on medical workplace misogyny. Sydney Morning Herald 2015; 23 Mar. http://www.smh.com.au/comment/microscope-must-be-focused-on-medical-workplace-misogyny-20150322-1m1trr.html (accessed 21 Apr 2015).
No relevant disclosures.